Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being

This book will help you flourish. With this unprecedented promise, internationally esteemed psychologist Martin Seligman begins Flourish, his first book in 10 years - and the first to present his dynamic new concept of what well-being really is. Traditionally, the goal of psychology has been to relieve human suffering, but the goal of the Positive Psychology movement, which Dr. Seligman has led for 15 years, is different - it’s about actually raising the bar for the human condition.

We all know love matters, but in this groundbreaking book positive emotions expert Barbara Fredrickson shows us how much. Even more than happiness and optimism, love holds the key to improving our mental and physical health as well as lengthening our lives. Using research from her own lab, Fredrickson redefines love not as a stable behemoth, but as micro-moments of connection between people - even strangers.

The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn't, What Shouldn't Make You Happy, but Does

In The Myths of Happiness, Sonja Lyubomirsky isolates the major turning points of adult life, looking to both achievements (marriage, children, professional satisfaction, wealth) and failures (singlehood, divorce, financial ruin, illness) to reveal that our misconceptions about the impact of such events is perhaps the greatest threat to our long-term well-being.

I Know What to Do, So Why Don't I Do It?: The New Science of Self-Discipline

You might think laziness, lack of willpower, and/or low motivation are to blame for the fact that you aren't achieving your goals. But fascinating research in the field of psychoneuroimmunology has revealed another, far more likely possibility. One with the potential to transform your life in a dramatic way.

Choose the Life You Want: 101 Ways to Create Your Own Road to Happiness

We have more choices than we realize. In fact, according to positive psychology expert Tal Ben-Shahar, our entire life is made of choices, large and small. It is what we choose moment by moment and day by day - to do, to feel, to experience - that determines how happy and fulfilled we are. Every moment, then, is an opportunity to make a choice that will bring us greater happiness. Ben- Shahar presents 100 such opportunities, some simple, such as whether to frown or smile; others complex....

Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil

From John Locke to Sigmund Freud, philosophers and psychologists have long believed that we begin life as blank moral slates. Many of us take for granted that babies are born selfish and that it is the role of society - and especially parents - to transform them from little sociopaths into civilized beings. In Just Babies, Paul Bloom argues that humans are in fact hardwired with a sense of morality.

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

In this must-listen book for anyone striving to succeed, pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth shows parents, educators, students, and businesspeople - both seasoned and new - that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a focused persistence called "grit". Why do some people succeed and others fail? Sharing new insights from her landmark research on grit, MacArthur "genius" Angela Duckworth explains why talent is hardly a guarantor of success.

The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work

Conventional wisdom holds that if we work hard we will be more successful, and if we are more successful, then we’ll be happy. If we can just find that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow. But recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that this formula is actually backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work.

In his international best seller, The Happiness Advantage, Harvard-trained researcher Shawn Achor described why happiness is the precursor to greater success. This book is about what comes before both. Because before we can be happy or successful, we need to first develop the ability to see that positive change is possible. Only once we learn to see the world through a more positive lens can we summon all our motivation, emotion, and intelligence to achieve our personal and professional goals. In Before Happiness, Achor reveals five actionable, proven strategies for changing our lens to positive.

Pursuing the Good Life: 100 Reflections on Positive Psychology

In Pursuing the Good Life, one of the founders of positive psychology, Christopher Peterson, offers 100 bite-sized reflections exploring the many sides of this exciting new field. With the humor, warmth, and wisdom that has made him an award-winning teacher, Peterson takes listeners on a lively tour of the sunny side of the psychological street. What are the roles played by positive emotions and happiness, by strengths of character, by optimism, and by good relationships with others? How can we pursue the good life in families, workplaces, schools, and sports, no matter who we are or where we live?

Practical Wisdom: The Right Way to Do the Right Thing

Most of us want to succeed. And most of us want to do the right thing. But we often forget that the way tosucceed is by doing the right thing, as Barry Schwartz and Kenneth Sharpe remind us in Practical Wisdom: The Right Way to Do the Right Thing. When the institutions that shape our society need to change, the people in them typically either make more rules or offer smarter incentives.

The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom

This is a book about 10 "Great Ideas". Each chapter is an attempt to savor one idea that has been discovered by several of the world's civilizations - to question it in light of what we now know from scientific research, and to extract from it the lessons that still apply to our modern lives.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

Mindset is one of those rare audio books that can help you make positive changes in your life and at the same time see the world in a new way. A leading expert in motivation and personality psychology, Carol Dweck has discovered in more than 20 years of research that our mindset is not a minor personality quirk: it creates our whole mental world. It explains how we become optimistic or pessimistic. It shapes our goals, our attitude toward work, and ultimately predicts whether or not we will fulfull our potential.

Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life

The path to personal and professional fulfillment is rarely straight. Ask anyone who has achieved his or her biggest goals or whose relationships thrive, and you'll hear stories of many unexpected detours along the way. What separates those who master these challenges and those who get derailed? The answer is agility - emotional agility.

BBQ Fan says:"Excellent subject but listening is not everyone's cup of tea"

The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It

Based on Stanford University psychologist Kelly McGonigal's wildly popular course The Science of Willpower,The Willpower Instinct is the first book to explain the new science of self-control and how it can be harnessed to improve our health, happiness, and productivity. Informed by the latest research and combining cutting-edge insights from psychology, economics, neuroscience, and medicine, The Willpower Instinct explains exactly what willpower is, how it works, and why it matters.

Integral Meditation: Mindfulness as a Way to Grow up, Wake up, and Show up in Your Life

With practical teachings and detailed instructions, Ken Wilber introduces Integral Mindfulness, a new way of practicing the widely popular meditation. Integral Mindfulness applies many of the leading-edge insights of Ken Wilber's Integral Theory - the first system to combine Eastern teachings on the five stages of awakening with the eight major Western models of human development, thus portraying the complete path of human evolution.

Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Revolution in Change

Written by the originators and leaders of the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) movement itself, this short, practical audio guide offers an approach to organizational change based on the possibility of a more desirable future, experience with the whole system, and activities that signal "something different is happening this time." That difference systematically taps the potential of human beings to make themselves, their organizations, and their communities more adaptive and more effective.

Publisher's Summary

World renowned researcher Dr. Barbara Fredrickson gives you the lab-tested tools necessary to create a healthier, more vibrant, and flourishing life through a process she calls "the upward spiral." You'll discover:

What positivity is, and why it needs to be heartfelt to be effective

The 10 sometimes surprising forms of positivity

Why positivity is more important than happiness

How positivity can enhance relationships, work, and health, and how it relieves depression, broadens minds, and builds lives

The top-notch research that backs the three-to-one "positivity ratio" as a key tipping point

That your own sources of positivity are unique and how to tap into them

How to calculate your current positivity ratio, track it, and improve it

With Positivity, you'll learn to see new possibilities, bounce back from setbacks, connect with others, and become the best version of yourself.

I loved listening to this book on my way back and forth to work each day. It always gave me something to think about thoughout my day; some new things to consider or try. I found myself really trying to listen to other people and trying to understand where they were coming from as I was listening to this book. She has so many good, practical, and easy ideas to help you be the most positive and happy person you can be. I'm so glad I listened to this book!

A bit ironic that I'm saying negative things on a book about positivity, but oh well..The content of the book is overall ok and gets better towards the end. I think it could be a lot shorter as the author sometimes goes into examples that take too long and are not always as applicable to the point she's trying to make as I would like. Other books based on scientific studies (such as Dan Ariely's) also present studies but in a much clearer and funnier way, which helps us readers enjoy and remember more.Also the narrator seems like she's reading a fairy tale.I stuck through the whole thing and learned a few things, but overall it wasn't a ver good experience, in my opinion.

I found the writing style and narrator a bit difficult to stomach at times. I was able to look beyond what I found objectionable and extract some good information, however. This is how I have approached many (if not all) of the self-help books I have read over the years and it has proven to work for me. If you begin this book and think to yourself "Ug! I can't take several hours of this!", try to listen for the nuggets of wisdom/good info. They are in there!

We make and create our own drama. I now can choose to react in a different perspective. I will always come back to the book when I find that my negativity is consuming more of my life than Positivity. I love that I can be part of the big picture with her on going research at her website.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Me. It spoke to me and how I viewed what my life was showing me about my perspective

I would recommend this book most definitely. I can't say I am magically more positive, but I know the steps to take and the importance of taking them when I am ready to change. The content was great, the anecdotes were applicable, but had I listened on regular time, I don't think I would have had the same opinion. Speed it up!